My training had dropped off since Ashleigh and I had become a couple. Understandably, Fiona was no longer so enthusiastic about my participation in the triathlon, but I’d enjoyed the endorphins that almost daily cardio gave me. I also had to make sure I could keep giving Ashleigh what she needed in bed. Sex had been incredible from the beginning, and it kept getting better, and no less frequent.

“Right about what?”

“About Emma. And how it was obvious she wasn’t right for you because you didn’t want to marry her.”

“Oh, about that.” Jake had been convinced that when I found the right woman, my thoughts about marriage would change. I grinned. “Yeah, I’ll give you that. You were right.”

“So, you bought a ring yet?” We turned left; the tube was up ahead. I could probably walk home from where we were just as quickly.

“Mate, I’m going to scare her off if I start talking about marriage. She’s still a little wary of my change of heart. I think she saw it as something that should have been a gradual process. I guess that’s how it was for her. But for me? I just suddenly woke up and bam, I’m in love with her. I want to have nineteen kids with her, like yesterday. I’d marry her tomorrow if it were up to me. I just don’t want to freak her out. She keeps telling me that it’s only been a few weeks. It just doesn’t feel like that for me. So I’m trying to be patient”

Jake was grinning at me. “Yup. You got it bad. It was exactly like that for me.”

“I just don’t know how long I can hold myself back from talking about our future. We’ve lost so much time already—I want to get on with things. She seems happy to stay where we are for now.” We’d exchanged I love yous, so we weren’t standing still, yet I felt way out ahead in terms of where we were in our relationship. I was constantly checking over my shoulder to make sure she was behind me. I wanted her to let go and just roll with it. Get caught up in it as I had.

“Have you spoken to her about it?”

“No. Telling Haven was a huge deal for her. She’s happier now that’s done, and so part of me doesn’t want to push. But I’m ready for what’s next. I guess I’ll just have to learn some patience.”

“And what is next?” Jake asked.

It was as if I were on an obstacle course, and I’d just successfully conquered telling our family and saying I love you, and now I’d rounded a corner to find moving in together.

“I want her to live with me. Of course I want her to marry me, but I appreciate that might be too much of a jump.”

Jake chuckled. “Maybe living together would be a good interim step. She might be more enthusiastic than you think. When Haven finally understood that we were both in it together forever, she didn’t resist at all.”

Perhaps Ashleigh was ready. I could start dropping hints about moving in now Haven was on board. Ashleigh could rent her place out, which would help her financially. We were spending every night together anyway. It was nearly Christmas, and we could use the time over the holidays to move her stuff in before she got down to her studies in the New Year. The timing was good. It all made sense. If I convinced her of the practicality of the move, perhaps she’d be distracted from what it meant for our relationship.

I hesitated at the entrance to the tube. “You not going home?” Jake asked.

“I think I’m going to walk, actually.” I wanted to think things through, formulate my approach.

He nodded and headed back to Haven. Jake was a good guy. I’d always thought he was a little weak for marrying my sister so quickly after they’d met. I’d felt sorry for him. Before Ashleigh, I’d presumed he’d done it to comfort Haven, to keep her happy. Now I understood that if he felt for Haven half of what I felt for Ashleigh, there just wasn’t an alternative if he wanted to be happy. I wanted to bind myself to Ashleigh in every way that I could.

I began to jog home, running through the counter arguments Ashleigh might make if I suggested we live together. It was what I did at the beginning of every new case I worked on. I found myself at the edge of the city, not too far away from home. Taking a shortcut, I made a left onto Hatton Garden, and into the heart of London’s jewelry district. Stores lined both sides of the road, their windows full of engagement rings. Burly security guards broke up the throng of couples peering into windows. I was about halfway up before a ring caught my eye, and I dared to stop to take a proper look through the glass. I wasn’t sure I’d really noticed an engagement ring until Haven’s. She’d been ecstatically happy with hers, and had thrust it in my face several times. The ring I’d spotted wasn’t small, but it wasn’t huge—certainly not in the same league as Haven’s. It was blue—a sapphire, probably. It wasn’t a traditional engagement ring, but ours wasn’t a traditional love. It looked beautiful without being showy. Like Ashleigh. It had an antique feel to it with a large central square stone surrounded by a ring of tiny diamonds. I grinned. I could imagine it on her finger, both now and in thirty years as she held our grandchildren. It was timeless. I was sure Ashleigh would love it if she ever got to the point where she would consider marrying me.

“It’s a beautiful piece, isn’t it?” said an elderly woman. She was carrying flowers and making her way into the store.

“It really is.”

“Made for a beautiful woman. It’s a platinum setting with an untreated medium-dark stone that’s just under five carats. It’s one of my favorites. It won’t be around long. We only get that design once every few years, and it always sells out within days. Getting a stone like that isn’t easy.”

“It’s expensive.” I sucked in a slice of air as my eyes focused on the price tag. It wasn’t a spur of the moment purchase. This wasn’t just underwear.

“It is. Is she worth it?”

I peeled my gaze away from the ring and looked at the woman. “She really is. I need to . . . think.”

The woman smiled at me. “Don’t leave it long.”

When I got home, I found Ashleigh at the breakfast bar in just her underwear and a camisole, poring over her laptop. I’d left her asleep to join Jake on our run.

“You look good enough to eat,” I said as she swiveled on the stool to face me.

She uncrossed her legs and parted her thighs, skimming her hands down her milky white skin.

“Yeah?” She tilted her head and took in a breath. Fuck, she was amazing. I couldn’t resist what was between those perfect legs.

I moved toward her and skimmed my fingers up her arms. “Yeah,” I whispered into her neck.

“How was your run? How was Jake?”

“Good. Interesting.” I’d found the ring I wanted to propose with. I just needed to figure out next steps—a strategy to get it on her finger.

“Interesting?”

“Yeah. We were talking about our girls.”

“You were? That’s cute. What was interesting about it?” She sounded intrigued.

“Well, I was telling him how I wanted us to move in together.”

The corners of her mouth turned up, and her eyebrows lifted. I saw surprise, but not horror. “You were? What did Jake say?”

“That when all the pieces are there, it doesn’t take long to fit them together.” I loved how she looked at me—open and trusting. “Tell me what you’re thinking.” I traced her collarbone with my fingers, enjoying her shivers as I did so.

“You know what I’m thinking.”

She was right. “That it’s too soon? That I’ll change my mind?”

“It’s fast, Luke.” Her words were light and soft as if she were easily persuadable.

“It’s not that fast. And we’re spending most nights together anyway. You could rent your place out. Paying for business school would be easier.”

“It feels fast,” she whispered.

Slowly, I backed away. “Take your underwear off.” I fixated on my prize, staring at the juncture between her thighs. She hesitated, then hooked her thumbs into her panties and peeled the fabric from her skin. Instinctively, her legs closed, and I looked up at her face. “Show me,” I said.